39 Steps

This was another big step for me as a technician and a designer. It was the second show that I had worked on as a lighting designer and the first show I had done on a proscenium stage. Designing in our intimate blackbox space to designing on our proscenium stage was a new challenge for me. I was using a different console, in a different space, with new lighting elements. I had to learn many new lighting techniques and applications. Fortunately, I was really starting to understand the signal flow of DMX. The 39 Steps production was the first time that our department had access to two moving lights. This was my first experience with intelligent lighting, other than the use of a couple of RGBW color washes.

Our director, Heather Collins, shared her vision for the show and her expectations of me as a designer. She had an interest in shadows and side lighting, as well as vivid and “comic book” like colors and angles. I combined these ideas together which led to some very appealing and strong moments in the show.